Israeli forces continued to pound several areas in the besieged Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians, while residents reported overnight attacks in Rafah in the south of the enclave.
Israeli attacks on Gaza killed 60 Palestinians and wounded 140 others in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said Wednesday.
It said many victims were still trapped under the rubble, as ambulances and medical personnel were unable to reach them.
Residents said fighting escalated in the Tal as-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks also tried to advance north amid heavy clashes. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said their fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, which borders Egypt at Gaza’s southern tip, where about half of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have taken refuge after fleeing other areas. Most have since been displaced again.
Hani Mahmoud from Al Jazeerareporting from Deir el-Balah, said the previous 24 hours had been “cruel, bloody and extremely brutal for Palestinians in Gaza.”
“There are more attacks on densely populated areas, whether in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, the central area of Nuseirat, or further south of Gaza, where the Israeli military is still operating aggressively, systematically destroying and demolishing homes in Rafah city,” Mahmoud said. (Al Jazeera/Z-3)
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